Monochrome Factor
by Detective-san
Summary: Based on an actual manga. Syaoran and Eriol are typical slackers living a normal life ... until Shirogane appears and everything is thrown into chaos. In order to return everything to normal once again, Syaoran must become a "Shin". Full summary inside.


**Monochrome Factor**

**Summary: ****The story revolves around high school student Li Syaoran, a typical slackers living a normal life. That is, until he meets the mysterious Shirogane, a man who suddenly appears and tells them that they have a destiny together. When Syaoran hears this, he is shocked and doesn't believe a word of it. Sakura, a friend of Syaoran, forgets something in the school one night, and asks Syaoran to help her and go find it. He agrees, and while there, he gets attacked by a shadow monster. Shirogane convinces him that the balance between the human world and the shadow world has been distorted and that Syaoran must become a "shin"- a creature of the shadow world- in order to help restore the balance.**

**Basically … it is based from the Monochrome Factor manga series by Sorano Kairi … the plot and most of its characters do not belong to me. So don't flame me for copying someone else's work.**

**The plot will be twisted and changed slightly to suit my new era of "Gentle Sakura", so please don't sue me. A notice to all Sudden Inspiration readers, Sudden Inspiration is currently on temporary hiatus … I have once again received a very severe writer's block on the fan fic. To finally give you the last chapter, I would like your help. Please submit your ideas via PM to me so that I can complete and deliver the last chapter to all you fans out there. Your help will be appreciated.**

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You are conscious of the existence of your own shadow right?

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

That dark being, eternally clinging close, dangling after you …

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Because of its inconspicuous existence, does it slip from your mind?

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

And not realizing the significance of its existence …

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

But, it can't be completely forgotten. For it is inseparable from you.

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

And that shadow, is that part of us, which belongs to the darkness.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Chapter One:**

**Silver Shadow**

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The school bell rang … signalling for all the students to go into class … much to most of their dismay.

Thus … this is the start of another day … same as always … the routine of going into school … classes … clubs … and cram schools.

In one particular class, the teacher walked in.

"Stand, Bow, Sit," said the class president as all the students did as she said.

The teacher took a good look of the classroom, as if she's trying to find out if anyone's missing from the room. Her eyes landed on one desk, irritation was evident in her eyes as she fought her anger down.

"Hmm?" she said as she was about to sit down.

"Ah … Li and Hiiragizawa have skipped classes again?" she said as she sat down, "Kinomoto, could you please go and drag him back here? Daidouji too."

"Eh?" said a timid girl with honey brown hair and fade green eyes as she looked up in surprise. Her friend, who sat next to her, was irritated.

"Us again?" she mumbled darkly as both of them stood up and walked out of the classroom. Once they're out of the classroom, they both walked up to the school roof, with a very irritated Daidouji Tomoyo.

"Geez, why is it always us …? Tell the class president to go instead," said Tomoyo angrily while her timid friend, Kinomoto Sakura laughed nervously, keeping a very safe distance from her very, very ticked off friend. Once they were at the school roof, Tomoyo slammed the door open, with a look ready to murder.

"Hey! Syaoran, Eriol …," began Tomoyo angrily before she was cut off from the site in front of her.

"Ah …," said Sakura with a nervous smile on her face.

In front of them both, were a band playing some music. In the front with the electric guitar and the microphone, stood a boy with messy brown hair and alluring amber eyes. Next to him, stood another boy, this time with dark blue hair and his midnight blue eyes framed behind his moon-shaped glasses. Music was heard, which meant that no-one noticed them.

Tomoyo stared at them … she was in some kind of shock that even Sakura could not snap her out of it. Until Li Syaoran finally noticed them and eyed them both with a bored look on his face.

"Why are you two here, Tomoyo, Sakura?" asked Syaoran in a bored tone.

"THAT'S MY LINE!! Singing in this kind of place!" yelled Tomoyo, a vein popped out of her head anime-style. Sakura just laughed nervously, muttering a "hello" to him, which, of course, went un-noticed by everyone.

"You voice is good!" said another boy, who paid no attention to either Tomoyo or Sakura, "Want to be the lead singer? You two are good on the guitar."

"Nah," said Eriol as he adjusted his glasses giving his goofy smile.

"I like listening better," said Syaoran, ignoring the two girls, which irritated Tomoyo to no end.

"THEY WERE RECRUITING YOU? He's not even a member!" yelled out Tomoyo again.

"Ah … Tomoyo-chan … you're being a little bit too loud," muttered Sakura timidly as she tried, and failed, to calm her friend down. Her voice went un-noticed.

Tomoyo marched up to Syaoran and Eriol, grabbed the back of their collars whilst another vein popped out of her head in anime-style again.

"That's enough you two," she said, "you're coming back to the classroom!"

"Why?" said Syaoran in a bored voice again.

"Yeah, why?" said Eriol, trying to act tough.

"Shut up Eriol," said Syaoran irritably, at which Eriol quickly shut up.

"Don't question! The teacher told us, to bring back the deserters back to where they belong," said Tomoyo as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"How annoying," mumbled Syaoran. Tomoyo heard this and got ticked off.

"What? IF WE WEREN'T ON THE PUBLIC MORAL COMMITTEE, WE WOULDN'T BE DOING THIS!" yelled out Tomoyo again, this time, bits of her hair stuck up in anger.

"AHHH! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE US? TO WATCH OVER THESE IDIOTS EVERY SINGLE DAY --! The public moral committee is not meant for babysitting!"

"Sucks to be you," said Syaoran.

"Ah … Tomoyo-chan … aren't you being a bit too loud?" asked Sakura in her timid voice. That went un-noticed by Tomoyo and Syaoran, along with Eriol.

"DON'T TALK BACK TO ME!!" yelled out Tomoyo again as multiple veins popped out of her head anime-style.

"You two! CLEAN UP THIS STUFF, AND GET BACK TO CLASS!" said Tomoyo in a commanding tone, which received "what??" from the two boys; Tomoyo ignored them both.

"SYAORAN, ERIOL! YOU'RE COMING BACK TO CLASS WITH ME AND SAKURA, WE'RE GOING TO STUDY HARD!"

"Ah … Tomoyo-chan …," began Sakura, but once again, she went un-noticed

"Then … I'm going home," said Syaoran.

"What? Why?" asked Sakura, raising her voice a little so that she can be heard. Tomoyo looked at her, her eyes held a smile which cannot be shown on her face at the moment.

_You spoke up … Sakura-chan!_

Syaoran looked at her with a bored look on his face.

"Well … it's not like I come to school to study," he justified. Eriol just had a confused look on his face.

"So, what do you come to school for …?" asked Tomoyo … who is slowly cracking away from her sanity.

"Heh!! Nothing better to do."

Meanwhile, Sakura gently pulled Eriol back to class, who followed her rather willingly since they're both being ignored. Their leave went un-noticed.

"Speaking up to the devil chairman Daidouji that way …," muttered the first boy.

"Such courage …," muttered the second boy.

Tomoyo heard them.

"YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO LOOK UP TO HIM!" yelled Tomoyo before turning to Syaoran, "and Syaoran! Stop pretending to be a hero!"

"THAT'S IT! HERO!" cried out the second boy and both of them went and bowed in front of Syaoran … who got annoyed.

"That's too much," he said irritably.

"STOP PRAISING HIM!" yelled out Tomoyo again, as another vein popped out of her head.

Syaoran gave out an annoyed sigh.

"Then, I shall head off to defeat the Demon Lord (Principal)," he said in a monotone voice.

He dashed past Tomoyo, "Farewell, dear villagers!" was his last message before disappearing while Tomoyo said, "HUH? How'd he get past me?!"

"Villagers?"

"HEY! STOP! SYAORAN!!"

_______________________________

"Heh …"

Syaoran was walking along a street, wondering what he should do to ease his boredom …

"Escaping school wasn't that hard …," he said, speaking to himself, "But now, what am I going to do? Maybe I'll get a new CD …"

As he went further down the currently empty street, someone spoke to him from the behind.

"Excuse me."

Syaoran turned around, "Eh?"

Behind him stood a monochrome cloaked figure with a black top hat (**A/N: You know those really tall ones that people used to wear in the European countries centuries ago? Yeah, those.**) and dark sunglasses. He also wore a really, really creepy smile.

"May I have a moment?" asked the stranger, adding a "hehe" at the end of his seemingly weird question.

Syaoran gulped.

_... ahh … _thought Syaoran _too obvious … this takes 'suspicious' to a whole new level._

He gave the suspicious figure a bored look, while the stranger responded with his creepy smile and a small 'haha'.

_But who is this guy …? Maybe, he's out recruiting for some crazy religious cult? Or maybe, he's a mobster … who sells human bodies on the black market? Either way, it's best not to associate with such a person._

"My family's Buddhist … see ya," said Syaoran before he started to walk past him.

_There. Slip by, sometime._

"You're Li Syaoran …"

That got Syaoran frozen in his tracks.

"Right?"

Syaoran whipped around with a glare on his face. His eyes showed fear.

"What! How do you know -- my name?!" he blurted out. The suspicious figure took off his dark shades.

"How can I not know?" he said as he eyed Syaoran, "I have been … searching for you, for a long time!"

Now Syaoran was feeling afraid. The tone that the suspicious figure spoke spooked him out.

"I am called Shirogane. Nice to meet you," said Shirogane, "I require your assistance, that's why I'm here."

"But the story is quite long ; I think its best we find somewhere else to talk. Shall we take a walk?"

"No."

"I'm not that stupid; to the point where I walk off with someone I just met?" said Syaoran in a tone which meant what he said earlier was true, "Especially with such on obviously suspicious person."

"A person?"

"I might as well say it up front; I'm not human," said Shirogane seriously, "In other words, I am a shadow, with the outward appearance of a person."

Syaoran just stared at him suspiciously. "… shadow?"

"Yes," said Shirogane with his creepy smile again, "Don't you have one yourself?"

_Man, this guy … maybe he isn't that suspicious …_

_He's just completely NUTS!_

"I don't know if you'll believe me --," started Shirogane.

"Nope," said Syaoran straightforwardly.

"I see …," said Shirogane as he place his hand under his chin, thinking, "that certainly is a headache. If you can't believe me, then we'll be having plenty of problems."

"I just don't believe it, get it?" muttered Syaoran in an annoyed tone.

"The how about this?" said Shirogane as he turned his heel with his hand on the rim of his hat, "tonight at ten o'clock, come to your school and find me. Then I'll be able to show you … what Shadows are."

"Just because you are telling me to go, you think I will …?" said Syaoran.

Shirogane momentarily stopped in his tracks.

"No. You will come …," he said.

Syaoran gave out a frustrated sigh.

"Look, I told you …," he began.

"I insist," said Shirogane in a very, very serious tone. Syaoran gulp in fear, while Shirogane reverted back to that creepy smile of his. A sudden wind picked up, which caused Syaoran to shield his eyes from the flying bits of dirt and sticks from coming into contact with his amber eyes. When the wind died down, he couldn't see Shirogane anywhere in sight.

_What was that about …? Nutty fellow -- …_

_I think … tonight, it'll be best if I stay inside._

_Maybe …_

_________________________________

"Hey!" said Tomoyo in a bored voice. She was standing in front of Syaoran's house. Silence stood between them for quite some time. He looked around her, as if she was missing something.

"What is it?"

"Where's that mouse that is always with you?" asked Syaoran. A vein popped out of Tomoyo's head.

"Sakura-chan's not a mouse if insolent idiot!" said Tomoyo angrily, "Besides, she's not allowed to be out this late, dumbass!"

"… Do you know what time it is right now?" asked Syaoran.

"9:30," said Tomoyo cheerfully, "So … sorry, I left something behind at school today. Can you come along with me to get it?"

"What? Nah, I don't want to," said Syaoran.

"Why not? You've got time to kill anyway. Aren't you the old geezer who's got nothing better to do?" asked Tomoyo.

"What do you mean by that? Old geezer?"

"And why do you want me to come anyway?" continued on Syaoran, "Why not someone else? We're not even close …"

"But …," said Tomoyo as she place a finger on her chin, "… but you always seem to be free; and you seem like that type that goes out at night. And while you shouldn't really be doing it, you seem to win all the fights you get into. Out of everyone I know very well, you seem to be the best one for this job."

"You're joking … don't just go deciding things like that about me. I don't like getting into fights," said Syaoran, "I don't even know what it is you forgot! Can't you wait until tomorrow?"

"HEY! 9:30 AT NIGHT, IS A PERFECTLY NORMAL TIME FOR GUYS YOUR AGE TO BE GOING OUT. YOU GO OUT AT RANDOM TIMES LIKE THIS ANYWAYS! As if we have to fight someone off, you'll be fine!" said Tomoyo angrily.

"… this doesn't sound like something the 'Devil Chairman' would say … oh boy …," said Syaoran as he sweat-dropped anime style, "fine, fine … I'll go with you ok? Not good to let a girl go alone at night …"

"YAY!"

"Anyway, as long as we get back before ten."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Sorry to cut it so short! This is not even a complete chapter!! _!!**

**As I had explained before: The plot does not belong to me … nor does Shirogane, Sakura, Tomoyo and Eriol. I have twisted the plot so that it would fit the "Gentle Sakura" era … (meaning I'll be doing some fan-fics which portrays Sakura as 'gentle'). Hope you all liked this fic!**

**Notice:**

**Sudden Inspiration will be on temporary hiatus, so will Red Rose and Trials of Life.**

**I will continue updating this fic until I have regained enough ideas to continue on with the other stories so please spare me!**


End file.
